PHIL 1950: Philosophy in Current Events, Text, and Film
Instructors:
David Cunning Carrie Swanson office: 257 EPB, MW 11:30-1 or by appt. office: 256 EPB, by appt. [email protected] [email protected]
This is a 1 semester-hour course in which students take part in a combination of movie screenings, Philosophy Club discussions, and philosophy department talks. The course requirements are attendance and participation at any eight events over the course of the semester, and also a posting to the course ICON discussion board for each of those eight attended events. The course is for a letter grade, though of course students can opt to take the course P/NP.
The theme for spring will be aligned with the UI theme semester – Our Lives Online – and will focus on social issues surrounding technology and the internet and will include Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner, Ex Machina, Minority Report, The Train, Walkabout, Quest for Fire, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. The movie screening will be on technology and internet-related issues, and the philosophy club meetings will feature episodes of the Netflix show, Black Mirror.
The movies will be shown on Tuesday evenings at 6:30pm on the following dates in the Franklin Miller Screening Room (AJB 105) – Jan 24, Feb 7, Feb 21, Mar 7, Mar 21, Apr 4, Apr 18, May 2 – and they are also referenced in the schedule below.
The ICON discussion board for each event will open within a day of the event, and the posts will be due six days later – one week after the event itself – at which time the board will close.
SCHEDULE
Week 1 no events
Week 2 Tuesday January 24, 6:30 – movie screening, Ghost in the Shell.
Week 3 Wednesday February 1, 3:30-5:00 – philosophy club, Black Mirror episode: NoseDive.
Week 4 Tuesday February 7, 6:30 – movie screening, Blade Runner.
Week 5 Wednesday February 15, 3:30-5:00 – philosophy club, Black Mirror episode: 15 Million Merits. Friday February 17, 3:30-5:00 – departmental colloquium, Diane Jeske, U Iowa.
Week 6 Tuesday February 21, 6:30 – movie screening, Ex Machina.
Week 7 Wednesday March 1, 3:30-5:00 – philosophy club, Black Mirror episode: San Junipero. Week 8 Tuesday March 7, 6:30 – movie screening, Minority Report.
Week 9 Tuesday March 21, 6:30 – movie screening, The Train. Friday March 24, 3:30-5:30 – public lecture, Susan Brison, Dartmouth College.
Week 10 Wednesday March 29, 3:30-5:00 – philosophy club, Black Mirror episode: Men Against Fire.
Week 11 Tuesday April 4, 6:30 – movie screening, Walkabout. Friday April 7, 3:30-5:30 – departmental colloquium, Michael Huemer, CU Boulder. Saturday April 7, all day – UI Graduate Philosophical Society (UIGPS) Conference. - Note that students can get credit for attending two of the UIGPS talks.
Week 12 Friday April 14, 3:30-5:30 – public lecture, Brian Leiter, U Chicago.
Week 13 Tuesday April 18, 6:30 – movie screening, Quest for Fire [La Guerre du fue].
Week 14 Wednesday April 26, 3:30-5:00 – philosophy club, Black Mirror episode: TBA. Thursday April 27, 5:00-6:30 – public lecture, Lynne Rudder Baker, U Mass Amherst. Friday April 28, 3:30-5:30 – departmental colloquium, Lynne Rudder Baker, U Mass Amherst.
Week 15 Tuesday May 2, 6:30 – movie screening, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Wednesday May 3, 3:30-5:30 – philosophy club meeting with pizza.